why shouldn't Ireland have a 'hard' border?!

[SIR]

You are kind of suggesting that, as a thought experiment, we go and ensconce a monarch in these places and see what happens.

Not at all, I am suggesting that you need to realise that removing the so-called British 'royal' family from their established positions would in no way change the number of tourists who come to visit the UK, and even that such an act might improve visitor numbers.

You claimed my example of Italy was a statistical outlier, so naturally I must bring your attention to USA and China who have massive tourism revenue and are both well established republics.

This looks like a deliberate provocation just for the sake of it.

Not really, actually a genuine casual query regarding your time spent in the company of Chinese society and whether they are aware, and if they are what they think, of your counter-revolutionary tendencies.